Control apparatus for controlling electrical systems for various end uses are well known and widely required. The present invention is particularly but not exclusively concerned with such control apparatus for use in vehicles such as trucks, trains, boats, aircraft and passenger transit vehicles. However devices of this type can also be used for controlling industrial processes.
A vehicle such as a passenger transit vehicle has a large number of electrical inputs from operator actuated switches and from various other transducers such as temperature sensors and door closure switches. The vehicle further has a large number of electrical outputs where various components such as lighting, air conditioning, door actuators and engine control systems require output at a predetermined voltage from the power system of the vehicle.
One conventional arrangement for controlling the various outputs from the various inputs includes a plurality of control modules which are interconnected by a communication bus.
Each module has a series of input terminals for receiving control signals from a selected combination of the various inputs of the system. Each module has a plurality of outputs for supplying output voltage to selected ones of the series of controlled elements of the system. Each module has a plurality of switches which can be actuated to supply output as required to one or more of the output terminals. The switches are controlled by a processor in the module. The switches are preferably electronic but other electromechanical switches can be used in some cases. The module has a communications connection for two way communication between the processor and the communication bus so that the status of the module can be communicated onto the communication bus and so that information concerning the other modules can be communicated from the communication bus to the processor.
One major advantage of this type of control is that it can be used to tailor the operation to different requirements of a particular customer in order to effect control over different configurations of the controlled elements and using different inputs and different logical operations based upon those inputs. Thus in the example of the vehicle, different customers may have different options such as destination boards or wheelchair ramps on their vehicle which need to be controlled and may require certain components such as head lights of the vehicle to be operated differently based upon different inputs.
While the module arrangement described herein allows such variations to be readily adopted and implemented by the manufacturer at the customer request, it provides the significant difficulty that this leads to many different module arrangements over different customers and different manufacturing years and models so that it may be difficult to determine which module arrangement is used upon a particular vehicle.
It is one object of the present invention therefore to provide an improved electrical control apparatus with ready determination of the configuration of the apparatus for diagnostic and repair processes.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an electrical control apparatus comprising:
at least one control module having:
a plurality of input terminals each arranged for receiving at least one input from a respective one of a plurality of sources of input signals;
a plurality of output terminals arranged for connection to a respective one of a plurality of controlled elements;
a plurality of switches each associated with a respective one of the output terminals for effecting control of the respective controlled element;
a processor arranged so as to actuate the switches in response to data from the input terminals in accordance with a predetermined program stored in the module;
a communications port for communication of data to and from the processor;
the program including a set of logic steps in an operating program format by which the switches are actuated in dependence upon predetermined characteristics of one or more of the input signals;
and a programming and diagnostic system having
a communications port for communication with the processor through the communications port of the control module;
an operator interface for displaying data to the operator and for receiving commands from the operator;
the control module being arranged, on receipt of a command from the operator through the programming and diagnostic system, to output the set of logic steps in operating program to the programming and diagnostic system;
and the programming and diagnostic system being arranged to receive the set of logic steps, to convert the set of logic steps from the operating program format into an operator viewable graphic display and to display the graphic display of the logic steps on the operator interface.
Preferably the programming and diagnostic system is arranged to allow the operator to generate the set of logic steps in the operator viewable graphic display, to convert the operator viewable graphic display of the generated logic steps into the operating program format and to transmit the generated logic steps in the operating program to the control module for storage therein.
Preferably the programming and diagnostic system is arranged to allow the operator to modify the set of logic steps in the operator viewable graphic display, to convert the operator viewable graphic display of the modified logic steps into the operating program format and to transmit the modified operating program to the control module for storage therein.
Preferably the operator viewable graphic display is in ladder logic format.
Preferably the programming and diagnostic system is arranged to provide a diagnostic function by monitoring the status of the inputs and outputs.
Preferably the programming and diagnostic system is arranged to provide a diagnostic function by allowing the operator to effect forcing the status of the inputs and outputs.
Preferably the set of logic steps in operating program format is compressed relative to the operator viewable graphic display.
Preferably the operating program contains boolean equations in reverse polish notation.
Preferably the operating program has been reduced through short hand writing of the terms and using file position for identification.
Preferably the conversion of the viewable graphic display to the operating program format is done via reduction through predefined configurations of symbols such as AND, OR, NOT.
Preferably the conversion of the operating program to the viewable graphic display is achieved through predefined configurations (placement and interconnection) for symbols in AND, OR, NOT, etc. arrangements.
Preferably the initialization section of the operating program contains the initialization for properties of the parameters contained in the program such as the time to linearly ramp to full output a control module output (soft start time), telltale ownership, timer initialization, etc.
Preferably there is provided a communication bus and a plurality of separate control modules and wherein the communications port is arranged for connection to the communication bus for transmitting communications on and receiving communications from the bus.
Preferably the modules each have a different function such that each receives input from a different one or more of the sources of input data and each effects control of a different one or more of the controlled elements and wherein said predetermined program is the same in each of the modules and includes a base program and an operating program portion having respective sub-portions thereof with each sub-portion arranged to control the function of the respective module in which the program is stored.
Preferably the modules and the predetermined program therein are arranged such that, at a predetermined condition of the apparatus, the processor of each module emits to the communication bus a signal indicative of the operating program portion stored in the respective module, such that there is effected a comparison of the emitted signals, and such that, in the event that the emitted signal of one of the modules is different from that of the others, a selected one of the others is arranged to download the operating program portion from said selected one to said different one.
Preferably the control apparatus is provided in a vehicle for controlling electrical components of the vehicle.
A method of electrical control comprising:
providing a least one control module;
providing a plurality of input terminals each arranged for receiving at least one input from a respective one of a plurality of sources of input signals;
providing a plurality of output terminals arranged for connection to a respective one of a plurality of controlled elements;
providing a plurality of switches each associated with a respective one of the output terminals for effecting control of the respective controlled element;
providing a processor and causing the processor to actuate the switches in response to data from the input terminals in accordance with a predetermined program stored in the module;
providing a communications port for communication of data to and from the processor;
providing in the program a set of logic steps in an operating program format and causing the program to actuate the switches in dependence upon predetermined characteristics of one or more of the input signals;
providing a programming and diagnostic system;
providing in the system a communications port for communication with the processor through the communications port of the control module;
providing in the system an operator interface for displaying data to the operator and for receiving commands from the operator;
causing the control module, on receipt of a command from the operator through the programming and diagnostic system, to output the set of logic steps in operating program to the programming and diagnostic system;
and causing the programming and diagnostic system to receive the set of logic steps, to convert the set of logic steps from the operating program format into an operator viewable graphic display and to display the graphic display of the logic steps on the operator interface.